Hockey Night in LA
by Pixie3
Summary: Vaughn and Sydney try to move on their feelings, but real life gets in the way, as usual.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Hockey Night in LA  
  
Author: Pixie (pixie@pixies-bookshelf.com)  
  
Synopsis: Vaughn and Sydney try to move on their feelings, but real life gets in the way, as usual.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, someone else does. I don't make any money from writing this, if I did I would be doing my dream job! [:)]  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Pairing: Sydney/Vaughn  
  
Category: Romance/Angst  
  
Spoilers: All over the place, so don't read if you haven't seen every ep to date.  
  
Distribution/Archiving: If anyone wishes to pass this around, please let me know where first. Otherwise all parts, once they're done, will be found on fanfiction.net and pixies-bookshelf.com/fic/archive.asp.  
  
Feedback: Always appreciated!  
  
Author's Notes: I was going to wait before I posted this, but I thought maybe if I got it out there it would push me to write more. We'll see if that theory works out. ;) This part takes place during the ep "The Coup", before Sydney Sydney finds out about going to Russia. Thanks to Steph for encouraging me with her feedback for this part! :)  
  
~*~  
  
Vaughn looked up from what he was reading when he heard a knock at his office door. He was surprised to see Sydney standing there, pizza box and a small cooler in hand.  
  
"Is something wrong?" he asked, moving to stand.  
  
Sydney walked in. "Is there always something wrong whenever we see each other?" She placed the box on his desk and the cooler on the floor, looking intently at him, waiting for an answer.  
  
"Not always, but..." he paused, sitting down again, then continued, "..you normally don't show up here unless something big is going on."  
  
She gave him a small smile. "The only thing wrong is that we aren't going to the Kings game," she commented.  
  
"Sydney..." he trailed off, sighing.  
  
The young woman walked around the desk and gently pushed Vaughn's chair aside as she reached for his keyboard and mouse. The agent gave her an odd look, not quite sure what she was up to. He then looked at the screen as she began typing something into a browser.  
  
"Why are you going to the Kings' website?"  
  
"If we can't go out to the game, then we can bring the game to us," she replied, turning her head to face him. Sydney gave him a brilliant smile and Vaughn felt his heart skip a few beats at her closeness.  
  
He gave her a soft smile and she returned her attention to the screen. Sydney found what she was looking for, and once everything started to load, she moved back, now in search of a chair.   
  
Vaughn felt a certain loss as she walked to the other side of the desk, away from him. He felt like this every time they parted company.  
  
Vaughn shook his head. [Get it under control, old man, remember that you're being watched closely,] he silently chastised himself. He took a deep breath and let it out, calming the roiling emotions within him. Last thing he needed to do was get all mushy at work.  
  
His deep breath caught Sydney's attention, and she turned to stare at him. "Something wrong?"  
  
He felt his face grow hot with her attention. "It's just been a long day," he told her, and she accepted it with a nod.  
  
"Don't I know it," she said, returning to his side with the visitor's chair. She pulled the cooler toward her chair, then sat down and opened the pizza box. "I figured all-dressed would be a safe bet," she told him, pointing to the pizza. She glanced at him and saw he was grinning.  
  
[If he finds this amusing..] she thought as she turned away and opened the cooler, pulling out two cans.  
  
"And I figured beer wouldn't be a good idea at the office, so I went with a substitute," Sydney stated, handing him a can. He looked at the label and laughed, making her smile happily.  
  
"Root beer, my favorite. How did you know?" he teased, his eyes twinkling with delight.  
  
"Damn, the game's already started," she commented distractedly as the program finally loaded and started to play the game commentary. She stood up and reached across Vaughn, turning up the sound on his speakers.  
  
Vaughn found himself closing his eyes, trying to control the feelings again that her nearness and scent evoked in him. He heard her move, then jumped a little when he felt her breath at his right ear.  
  
"Something wrong, Agent Vaughn?" she queried, her tone flirtatious.  
  
He opened his eyes and turned his head to face her. She was leaning one hand on the desk, one on his chair, and her expression was playfully challenging. If they were any other place, he would seriously consider giving into the desire to kiss her right now, but no such luck.  
  
"Hey, Vaughn, I...oh, I didn't realize you had company," a voice from the doorway commented.  
  
Sydney and Vaughn both turned to look, her expression curious, his dreading. They set their eyes on Agent Haladki, the *one* person, aside from Devlin, that Vaughn didn't want to butt in at a time like this.  
  
"Can I help you, Haladki?" Vaughn questioned, his annoyance evident.   
  
Sydney looked between the two men. Haladki, as Vaughn had referred to him, looked cocky and confident, like he had an ace up his sleeve, and not at all in a good way. Vaughn, on the other hand, was tense and angry, barely keeping it in check. It was obvious that these two didn't have a great history together, and she had a feeling that what he had just walked in on, although innocent enough, had not helped things in any way. She sat back in her chair, a twinge of guilt hitting her.  
  
"Yeah, I was just going to return the Bristow file to you, since Devlin decided to put you back on the case, but maybe I should hold onto it," he stated, showing the folder and smirking all the while.  
  
Sydney stood up and walked with purpose over to the shorter man. She held out her left hand. "No, I think you want to give that back to him." Her tone and expression were edgy, just enough to put the fear of God into Haladki.  
  
Haladki let out a little cough and then handed the file to Sydney's waiting hand. He then quickly left the office, but not without sending a glare in Vaughn's direction first.  
  
Sydney turned to look at Vaughn, a smile on her face. It faltered when she saw the still tense expression on his face.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
He attempted to smile, but it came out half-hearted. She walked back over, laying the folder on the desk beside the pizza.  
  
"Maybe I should go..." she started, but he waved off any more words from her.  
  
"No, stay. You brought pizza and root beer. Can't let those go to waste," he joked, attempting to make Sydney feel comfortable again.  
  
She sat down as he motioned to her to do so, and neither said anything more for the next few minutes.  
  
"So..." Sydney trailed off, breaking the silence. Despite all attempts at not being nosy, she felt she had to know what was up with Vaughn and this other agent.  
  
Vaughn didn't look at her, he simply stared at the pizza box as he answered her unasked question. "Think of Haladki as my Anna."  
  
Sydney made a sympathetic noise, but said nothing more.   
  
They sat through the rest of the game mostly in silence, only the odd comment uttered from time to time. It was like the fun of the time they were trying to spend together had been sucked out by Haladki's ill-timed entrance.  
  
Once the game was over, both Sydney and Vaughn stood up.  
  
"I should probably go home. Francie may be wondering where I am," she said.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They stood there, looking awkwardly at each other. Sydney broke the eye contact as she reached for the cooler and lifted it.  
  
"I'll, uh, see you later," she stated, then made a quick turn and left his office before he could make any response.  
  
Vaughn sat back down hard, groaning at the injustice of what had happened. He leaned forward, covering his eyes with his hand.  
  
"Was that Sydney I just saw leaving?"  
  
"Go away, Weiss," Vaughn growled out to his friend, not looking at him.  
  
"Buddy, you do not sound good."  
  
Vaughn removed his hand from its position, slumping down in his chair and leaning his head back. "I have the worst luck, my friend," he replied dejectedly.  
  
"Did you do something, 'cause she seemed awfully eager to get out of here," Weiss commented, waving in the direction Sydney had gone.  
  
Vaughn sat up and glared at the other agent. "No, I didn't do anything, I'm not *that* unprofessional." He sighed. "Haladki came in at a, how shall I call it, an inopportune moment."  
  
"'An inopportune moment'? Vaughn, you guys weren't...?"  
  
Vaughn waved a hand dismissively. "No, it was all innocent flirting, but with Haladki's mind, I'm sure he'll blow it up into us going at it on my desk."  
  
Weiss tried not to smirk at Vaughn's words, but couldn't succeed. Vaughn made a face at him.  
  
"You're going to have to find the right words to smooth this over," Weiss stated, approaching the desk.  
  
"Yeah, I know. Devlin'll have my ass, assuming he believes Haladki."  
  
"Oh yeah, for Devlin too," Weiss responded, grabbing a slice of pizza before leaving Vaughn to contemplate his words.  
  
End of Part One 


	2. Chapter 2

All disclaimers and such are in Part One.  
  
Author's Notes: Had most of this finished, but I wanted to see what they did in "Q&A" before I finalized this part. There will be more, as we all suffer through three weeks of no new eps ;), and I can only hope that I will still be following canon, as I have been trying to so far! The first bit of this takes place before the Russia mission is brought up in "The Coup", the second bit is after she gets back from Russia, right before she meets Vaughn about going to Sloane's in "Page 47", and the last of it takes place after the end of "The Prophecy". Confused yet? Good. *grin*  
  
~*~  
  
Sydney dragged herself into the house, tossing the cooler out of the way of the door and then closing the door with her butt. She leaned up against it, letting out a little groan.   
  
[That *has* to win for worst attempt at a date,] she thought, gently banging her head on the door as she let it fall back.  
  
"Syd?" Francie poked her head around her bedroom door to look out to the living room.  
  
Sydney pulled herself up and moved to the living room, giving her friend a half-hearted smile as she threw herself onto the couch. "Yeah, it's me."  
  
Francie came out of her room to join her friend. "Long day at work?" she asked as she sat down beside Sydney.  
  
She snorted in response.  
  
"Wow, that bad?"  
  
"Have you ever had a casual date crash and burn so massively that you considered the convent?" Sydney queried, turning her head to face her roommate at the end.  
  
The other woman sat up straight. "You went out on a date!? And you didn't tell me until now!?"  
  
The brunette made a face. "Sorry, it just kinda happened. Or I should say it kinda *didn't* happen."  
  
"Thus the 'crash and burn'?"  
  
Sydney nodded. "Yeah. Everything started out good, but...someone got in the way and it wasn't the same after."  
  
"Someone..as in a female someone?"  
  
The agent chuckled. "No," she paused and laughed harder when Francie gave her an odd look.   
  
"And no," she finally managed to get out. "A co-worker, one who knows how to kill a mood."  
  
"Ah," Francie replied. She then looked pensive. "Well then, if it's nothing you did wrong, and nothing he did wrong, then what's wrong?"  
  
Sydney sighed, leaning her head back. "It's...complicated."  
  
"How complicated could it be?" Francie wondered, standing. She walked over to the kitchen, the brunette watching her. She opened a cupboard and took out a glass.   
  
"Francie, it *is* complicated, trust me on this one, okay?"  
  
Francie turned off the tap and brought her attention back to Sydney. "Is this Christmas Gift Guy?"  
  
The agent could hear the capital letters in the nickname Francie had given Vaughn. "Yeah, it's him."  
  
"Ohhh..." she trailed off. Francie walked back to the couch, and Sydney turned to a more comfortable position. Sitting down, she said, "I'll admit, office romance is notoriously bad, especially when the breakup happens..."  
  
"Not every office romance needs to end badly. It could last," Sydney responded. She realized that she was suddenly on the opposite side from before and wondered how that had happened.  
  
"Listen to Miss Positive," Francie teased, causing Sydney to roll her eyes. "Okay, then I only have one more thing to say. If you want this guy, I say go for it."   
  
"Go for it," the brunette repeated.  
  
"Yeah, go for it."  
  
The agent lay back against the couch, weighing Francie's words.  
  
~ * ~  
  
Sydney entered the warehouse, a rush of nervous energy flowing through her. While she normally enjoyed her meetings with Vaughn, even the ones where they didn't have much conversation beyond the mission, this time was different. She planned that this time they would really talk about what happened, and Francie's words kept running around in her head, goading her on.   
  
"Go for it", she had said, and the brunette was finally seriously taking the chance because she felt, as she had for a while, that Vaughn wanted more. He had as much as said that before she had gone off to Moscow. But thinking of going for it and actually doing it were two different things. Of course there was still the whole risk factor to take in...  
  
She quieted her thoughts so as to concentrate on walking when she nearly ploughed into a post.   
  
[Yeah, how would you explain that bruise? 'Oh, this big, fat bruise on my forehead? This was from me not paying attention when I was daydreaming about throwing you up against that chainlink fence and kissing you until *you* couldn't think straight.']   
  
The double agent snorted at her chastising thoughts. No, that most definitely wouldn't sound right, not at this early stage of the game.  
  
Sydney sighed. Why did everything have to be a game? Why couldn't people just be honest and straightforward? It would make things a lot easier..or perhaps that much more complicated.  
  
She sighed even more deeply this time. These thoughts were getting her nowhere, except to lead to a bruising with a post.  
  
The brunette pulled herself together and opened the gate to their meeting place. She walked in and closed the gate after her. When she looked over to the crates, he was there, as always. She felt her stomach flutter with nerves once again.  
  
[No time for this, Sydney, keep focused,] she commented internally. She gave Vaughn a big smile in greeting and attempted to calm herself again so as to get the countermission part over and then lead to further discussion of the more personal kind.  
  
~ * ~  
  
Sydney sat in the van, trying to get Vaughn to look at her. The DSR agents silently watched her, but her handler did not seem to have the ability to lay eyes on her. Did he feel like he had let her down, was that it?  
  
The double agent sighed, wishing like hell that they could be alone so she could talk to him. Right about now she could do with him even glancing her way so that she could communicate to him that she didn't blame him for any of this. No such luck though, he kept his gaze firmly on that back door.  
  
She sat back as best she could, trying to get comfortable. She had no idea how long the ride was going to be. Closing her eyes, she let her mind wander, hoping to relax herself, even if just for a few minutes.  
  
Suddenly she sat bolt upright and opened her eyes, her mind picking up on something she forgot. Her actions immediately caught the attention of all around her, increasing the already tense situation.  
  
She turned to look at Vaughn. "Will and Francie, they won't know what happened to me. I don't want them to worry," she told him.   
  
He glanced at the other agents.  
  
"We can't allow her outside contact now," was the answer.  
  
"What if I get into contact with one of them, say that you didn't have time to do it yourself, tell them that you were called out of town?" he suggested, really looking at Sydney for the first time in a while.  
  
She gave him a grateful smile. "What about Sloane?"  
  
"We know where he's watching and how, I'll be careful," he told her, returning the smile.  
  
More than any other time, right now Sydney wanted to wrap Michael Vaughn in a big embrace. He always managed to help her find a way to work everything out when she was stuck. One of these days she'd have to find a way to repay him, by making him a more permanent part of her life.  
  
For the rest of the ride, Sydney and Vaughn kept eye contact, the double agent finally starting to feel more at ease. Once they arrived though, she felt it start to slip away as she was pulled out of the van and into the underground parking lot.  
  
"Is it me or do I spend a lot of time underground?" she joked, trying to calm her nerves and see if anyone else had a sense of humor. Vaughn was the only one to crack a smile.  
  
As they began to lead her away, Sydney realized that Vaughn wasn't coming any further. She strained to look back at him, her worry starting to rise once again.  
  
"I'll see you soon!" he called, attempting to assuage her fears, and hoping to hell that he was right.  
  
~ * ~  
  
"Dammit!" Vaughn yelled, slamming his phone down.  
  
Agent Weiss stuck his head around the corner, through the open door. "Something wrong?"  
  
The handler let out a frustrated sigh. "What isn't these days?" He sat heavily in his seat while Weiss dared to enter the angry man's office.  
  
"They stonewallin' you?"  
  
"To put it politely, yes." Vaughn wiped a hand over his tired face, resting it under his chin. "I tell her friend Francie that Sydney's fine, she's just off on another business trip. Problem is, I have no *clue* if she's fine. I don't even know where the hell they have her anymore."  
  
Weiss sat down in the visitor's chair. "You mean she's not where you last saw her?"  
  
"No. And even Devlin can't find out. I don't know what I'm going to do."  
  
End of Part Two 


End file.
